We went on one of these for my friend’s birthday.
It was exactly as PP described, late night departure flights, only a few nights with a very early morning return flight,
so you are basically paying for two days of ‘holiday’ where you can only travel and do nothing else.
There was also the most extreme upselling I’ve ever encountered, they tried dozens of times to try to get us to pay for upgrades, better flights and expensive extras, in the end it got so bad it was verging on blackmail.
We didn’t go expecting much, I’ve done some super cheap ‘bargain’ holidays before so I knew what to expect.
These kind of ‘deals’ are always the most undesirable flights and are lower end hotels, which are usually out of the way.
The hotel we stayed in was basic, it was ok but quite a walk out of the town and a little bit grim in places.
Ive done a bit of travelling and stayed in a lot of cheap places so it didn’t really bother me but I think a lot of the other people in the group were very disappointed.
Some of the friends who went booked another, more expensive one and had exactly the same experience.
It’s a not exactly scam, the only reason they offer this deal is because the flights are undesirable and cheap and the hotels are basic and cheap,
It’s not a competition to win a luxury holiday (although they sell it as though it is), the company are in it to make a profit so you need to look at it like that, the holiday will only be worth what you pay.
I definitely wouldn’t advise anyone hoping for a holiday to Dubai or anything fancy to waste their money, only book these deals if you are happy to have a 3/4 day break in a Europe with day 1 of your holiday on a 11pm flight, spend a couple of days in an undesirable hotel where you need to do a lot of walking/get buses or taxis to go anywhere and have the last day of your holiday with an early morning flight.